Cheerson CX-10 vs Skeye nano (rip-off) drone

Skeye Nano vs. Cheerson CX-10 vs. Cheerson CX-10A Headless vs. (other or no brand) Nano drone: Cheerson CX-10 wins! If you wanna buy a cheap Nano drone, Cheerson CX-10 the one to buy! You may think that the 10A is better but it's not. It's just marketing, the headless function is kinda useless. I own both, I can tell you. Check also the videos (a guy compared both of them and is telling the same: the CX-10A is slower).

Update July 2017: if you are interested in the model with the camera, check the Cheerson CX-10C, for only 24 USD (Skye Nano version: 99 USD if you like to pay more...)

Update December 2016: check also my newest mini drones comparison: Cheerson CX-10 vs Eachine H8 Mini.

Update September 2015: now you can order the Cheerson CX-10C, which includes a 0.3 MP camera! I still think that the CX-10 is the best, but hei if you wanna take some low quality pictures just for fun, why not.

Cheerson CX-10, the original


The Cheerson CX-10 exists since a while. It can be bought for less than 20 USD from banggood.com and it's available in different colors: orange, green, blue. Orange is my favorite.


Cheerson CX-10A headless


This is the new model and it's headless, which means that you don't have to position it in the flying direction before the take off. It orginally costes a few bucks more but now it's being sold at the same price as the CX-10, probably because they realizes nobody wants it :). It's available in different, fancy new colors (black, white, silver, gold with some tribal logo on it). Update after receiving and testing it: I never use the headless mode (you need to specifically activate it so if you are like me you won't do it, you will probably just turn it on and fly it, so you would not "benefit" the headless mode). So if you wanna buy this one instead of the original CX-10, it's probably because of the design/color (black is kinda cool). But for a better flying experience, buy the CX-10 which is a bit more reactive. I like both of them but the CX-10 is better in my opinion.


Notes about the Cheerson CX-10 and CX-10A quads


In the Cheerson CX-10/CX-10A package you get (besides quad, transmitter, charging USB cable) only 4 spare propellers. 2 turn clockwise, 2 counter clockwise. The CX-10 transmitter is compatible with the CX-10A and vice-versa. I have 2 different models but only use one transmitter, it works just fine. I can also fly one and a friend of mine flies the other one with the other transmitter. No problem, they don't interfere if you were wondering.

Important, when you order your mini quad, you can choose which mode to control it. In USA (and EU): people in the RC community generally use Mode 2, left hand throttle. So if you wanna get familiar with the "standard", buy the model with the mode 2 transmitter.

Buying suggestions


After playing for a while with my Cheerson CX-10 I think I can recommend to beginners to buy some spare parts, like these:

Especially when playing inside, collisions are almost inevitable. When the copter falls down violently, the propellers can be turned a bit (they can be fixed) but after several collisions they break. Buy the protection cover, you'll never need to replace propellers anymore.

Cheerson CX-10C with camera


cheerson-cx-10c-camera-front

This is basically the same as the CX-10, but with a 0.3 MP camera. 0.3 Mega pixel is really low quality, don't even bother buying this, you can take better selfies with your phone, really. But in case you wanna give it a try:


Skeye Nano, the same but twice price


If you are here because you saw the Skeye nano drone - "World’s Smallest Quadcopter" for a special price (limited offer) and you were wondering if it's worth to buy: DON'T buy it. I sadly ordered one from the gizmag store and unluckily the order is non-refundable. See a screenshot of this "limited offer" taken from gizmag:

skeye-nano-gizmag

Check a video of the Skeye Nano. As you can see, it's practically identical to the Cheerson CX-10.


The Skeye nano can be found on gizmag.com, stacksocial.com, androidauthority.com etc. (all webshops look the same) for a "limited offer" 41% discount (or something like that), so for 35 USD (update: last time I saw "sale ends in 4 days", now -a week after- I see "sale ends in 6 days", seems it's just a marketing way to attract customers...). On trndlabs.com it can be found at the official price of 49 USD. For this price you can buy 3 Cheerson CX-10! Quite a rip-off!

Same technical specifications and same design. At the time of writing, it's being sold at different shops (see above) but nobody wrote yet a comparison review between the two models. Quite funnily the special offer will be gone in a few days.

The order is non-refundable. I ordered one myself and I wrote this post to warn users not to make the same mistake as I was quite frustrated myself. I don't usually write rants. This is just to open your eyes. If you wanna buy the skeye, feel free.

Personally, I bought also a Cheerson CX-10 at and a Cheerson CX-10A at banggood (see links above) so in the end I'll have 3 models for an average of 25 USD.

A special thanks to Antony Alston, the author of the Cheerson CX-10 review on Best Quadcopters Reviews to enlighten me about this rip-off.

UPDATE 23-01-2015


Cheerson CX-10 form banggood UK: ordered on January, 13th. Received on January, 19th. The delivery to Switzerland took 5 working days!

Skeye Nano: ordered on January, 10th. Received on Januarty 22nd. The delivery to Switzerland took 9 working days.

Here a first person view video of me flying my Cheerson CX-10 (in my youtube channel you find more videos and tests):

Here a crash tests video with the protecting cover:

The Skeye Nano looks exactly the same, as stated before...